Try On These Sparkling GEMS for Working Moms – You\’ll Soon Wonder How You Lived Without Them! By NABBW member Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. Is your life an endless cycle, revolving around work and taking care of the kids? If so, you’re not alone. In a recent study by the Families and Work Institute, half of American women say they don’t have enough time to spend on themselves and to choose the activities they enjoy. We all know that saying ‘yes’ to more responsibility can make us feel safer with the boss and help us avoid conflict in the family. But too often ‘yes’ is our default... Read More

The F-Word You Need to Use By Chloe JonPaul, M.Ed. Anger may be affecting your life so the next logical step is to check out where you stand on forgiveness.  Yes, that’s the F-word you must learn to put into practice. We forgive – not necessarily because that person deserves to be forgiven – but because it frees us up. In essence, you are taking back your power. When we hold on to some resentment, grudge, or hatred toward someone, we are actually empowering them. It certainly isn’t bothering that person. As Dale Carnegie once said: “Our enemies would dance with joy if they knew... Read More

By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. http://www.HerMentorCenter.com Although the 2013 Academy Awards are history one gem, Amour, will continue to shine. This heartbreaking and unflinching movie was painful to watch but it stimulated conversations with more questions than answers. As the people we love decline, how do we deal with the inevitable suffering? Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke tackled this subject and won the 2013 Academy Award for best foreign language film. The leads, veteran French actors Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, play a vital Parisian couple... Read More

Three Cheers for the Sandwich Generation By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. July is Sandwich Generation Month, a chance to pay tribute to adult children who are juggling the demands of raising kids while taking care of aging parents. The number of Americans 65 and older is projected to increase from 40 million in 2010 to over 88 million by 2050, doubling the ranks of those experiencing this stressful combination of responsibilities. We expect to take care of our growing children. After all, isn\’t that part of the parenting job description? Even after the last kid... Read More

2012 College Graduates are Moving Back Home By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. This year over 1.75 million college students walked across the stage to pick up their diplomas. Seniors everywhere were excited to graduate as parents were thinking about words of wisdom to impart. With the scarcity of jobs and school loans due, it\’s going to be harder than ever for these kidults to engage in adult roles. If your brand new graduates are boomeranging back home, here\’s some practical insight to share with them: Face uncertainty with a positive attitude. You can\’t... Read More

Steps to Deal with Bullying By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. Remember what it was like to be in school, afraid of the big bully in the neighborhood? The documentary Bully reignited the national dialogue about this challenge for kids, following several students and their families over the course of one school year. Bullying is pervasive in our society today – research indicates that one in three children have been involved in an incident, either as perpetrator or victim. It\’s been estimated that 13 million children in the U.S. are bullied each year, with 3... Read More

So You Didn\’t Win the Lottery…Now What? By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. Now that all the mega-lottery winners have stepped forward, the overwhelming odds are you didn\’t win. Americans spent $1.5 billion in their quest to win the jackpot, fantasizing about how they would happily spend the $656 million to be paid out to the winner. As it happened, there were three winning tickets so the final after-tax take home for each will be about $100 million. Still, nothing to sneeze at. Are you wondering how winners have fared in the past? In many cases, not so... Read More

Women and the Art of Play By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. We all know about the importance of play for the emotional growth and development of children. It can enhance their imagination, increase social skills and boost self-confidence. So why don\’t we place more value on play for ourselves? According to a recent study by the Families and Work Institute, 50% of American women don\’t have enough time to spend on themselves and the activities they enjoy. Early on, girls tend to be collaborative, communicative and caring – you can see it when they play... Read More

Love is More Than a Four Letter Word By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. Long before it was a song, the saying was a part of our conversation – and it\’s especially appropriate during February, the month of love: Love makes the world go \’round. With all this whirling, love can make you feel off balance and dizzy. Sometimes it\’s tricky to keep your personal world turning without having it spin totally out of control. Although our focus is most often on romantic love, there are many different kinds of love that help keep us grounded. We can be fully... Read More

What Bhutan Can Teach Us About Happiness By Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. It has been over ten years since I retired from my fulltime practice and spent three months doing volunteer work and traveling in Southeast Asia. One of the best parts of my trip was spending time in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. It was their monarch who defined the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) to measure quality of life. And Bhutan is the only country in the world that puts happiness and general well-being at the heart of its government policy. The Bhutanese distinguish four... Read More